-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- A New York airport screener who removed two pipes from a traveler 's bag and set them aside Monday morning prompted a security scare six hours later when the next shift saw the pipes and feared they might be pipe bombs , local and federal officials said .

The incident at New York 's LaGuardia Airport began at 11:30 a.m. when a screener discovered unidentifiable items inside a passenger 's carry-on bag . The officer screened the item for explosives , determined them not to be a threat and cleared the passenger through the checkpoint , a Transportation Security Administration official said .

But the officer prevented the metal item from going through because of its `` material and appearance , '' a TSA official said .

When the next shift arrived , one officer saw the items and mistakenly believed they were test objects , used to check screener proficiency . When that officer later learned they were not test items , the officer alerted others , and the TSA contacted the Port Authority Police Department , responsible for protecting the airport .

`` No one could give a good account of what it was , so we did the safe thing and called -LRB- the -RRB- NYPD bomb squad , '' Port Authority Police Department spokesman Al Della Fave told CNN .

The bomb squad removed the devices at 5:30 p.m. -- six hours after they were taken from the passenger .

The devices were taken to a remote location for examination or disposal , one official said .

`` We have still not been told what it was or what it was composed of , '' Della Fave said .

Several law enforcement sources told CNN the objects were determined to be homeopathic medical devices .

TSA officials said the checkpoint was not closed , nor was the terminal evacuated , during the incident . The bomb squad was called `` out of an abundance of caution , '' the TSA said .

Port authority spokesman Della Fave said the police force will `` speak with their -LRB- TSA -RRB- supervisors to determine how or why this breakdown in communications took place so it wo n't happen again . ''

CNN 's Chris Boyette contributed to this report .

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A TSA officer coming on duty spotted two devices

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That started events that resulted in the NYPD bomb squad being called

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The devices had been removed from a traveler 's bag earlier but were not a threat

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The bomb squad was called `` out of an abundance of caution , '' the TSA says